


Take Your Time (But Not That Long)

by raggirare



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 02:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2050584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raggirare/pseuds/raggirare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seijuurou finally confesses, Makoto shows him a new smile, and Rin has an apartment that looks out over Tokyo Bay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Your Time (But Not That Long)

Over the years, Seijuurou was pretty sure he had figured out all of Makoto’s smiles. 

(They hadn’t been close, at first, but with Matsuoka and Nanase moving up to Tokyo and Makoto staying behind in Iwatobi, Seijuurou had found himself growing closer and closer with the younger male during his own visits home. They only got to see each other every two or three months, since Seijuurou couldn’t actually come home all that often because of his club commitments, and sometimes his trips home would end up being during times where Makoto was going to Tokyo instead, but that had never stopped their friendship from growing.

Or anything else, for that matter.

Seijuurou, as open as he was about girls and how cute he thought they were, had never been one to talk feelings. That was mostly because he was always too caught up in something else to really pay them much mind, but there was also a much more conscious fear of ruining things. When he liked girls, it was usually after he’d get to know them really well and built up a good friendship that he didn’t want to ruin - and he was actually guilty of calling ‘friend-zoned’ a couple of times. When it came to liking guys, he was a lot more wary. There was a lot of stigma around guys liking guys, and even more around people who liked both, and sometimes it was just easier to ignore his own feelings in favour of not letting things get too awkward.

Except he and Makoto had talked once, more than a year ago, when they attended a festival together, and he knew for a fact that Makoto was gay.)

But the smile on his lips now was nothing Seijuurou had ever seen before.

It was far from happy, a little forced and almost a little… sad. There was a sympathy in there, as well, and there was a hint of regret in Makoto’s ever-gentle green eyes, and Seijuurou opened his mouth, but no words came out.

(He swallowed down the lump in his throat and tried again.)

“Makoto, what’s with that face? I’m not that bad of a boyfriend, I promise.” Seijuurou’s attempt to laugh it off fell flat when Makoto’s expression didn’t change except to just emphasize the apologetic and sympathetic look in his eyes.

“Ah, it’s not that, Sei…” the younger male gave a weak, sheepish laughed and glanced away. “I used to daydream about us like that, but the truth is…” Makoto trailed off into uncertainty when he couldn’t seem to find the words to say what he needed to say. He didn’t seem to need to, though, and Seijuurou was able to figure it out from a single gesture alone; from Makoto lifting a hand to toy with a silver chain hanging around his neck that Seijuurou was sure hadn’t been there during his last visit three months ago.

(During his last attempt at this when he’d chickened out of confessing at the last moment.)

Seijuurou felt his heart sink like a weight in his gut and it suddenly felt a lot harder to breath. Words caught in his throat again as he fought to keep himself composed and it took a little force to get them out. “Who is it?” he asked, his tone shaking a little. “How long?”

“Yamazaki Sousuke.”

(Seijuurou had only met him a few times through Momotarou and then a few other times when he would meet with Makoto only to find that the younger male’s friends from Tokyo had come back to visit as well. He was an okay guy; tall, handsome, specialized in butterfly.)

“About three months ago, now.”

(Seijuurou’s heart shattered.)

“Three moths, huh?” He repeated, and all the confidence Seijuurou had had in his tone only minutes before when he’d finally broken through worry and uncertainty and finally confessed after years of convincing himself not to was long gone, leaving his voice weak and quiet. “Before my last visit?”

Makoto shook his head. “After,” he corrected, his own voice low and quiet, but less from weakness and more because he just really wasn’t at all sure what to do. “I’m sorry, Sei. I kept wanting to wait because after that time at the festival I thought maybe… maybe you did… but you never said anything so I told myself to give up and… I’m sor—”

“Don’t apologize, Makoto,” Seijuurou interrupted with a suddenly much more confident tone. He straightened himself out again, squaring his shoulders from where they’d slumped in disappointment, and he pulled a smile onto his lips - albeit forced. “It’s my own fault. I should have said something sooner instead of chickening out every time. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

“But—“

“Makoto,” Seijuurou fixed his friend with a serious look in his eyes. “Does he make you happy?”

“Wha-“

“Yamazaki-kun. Does he make you happy?”

Makoto blinked a few times, as though he was trying to wrap his head around the question, before he ducked his head to hide a blush creeping onto his cheeks. He nodded. “Very happy.”

“Then I’m okay with being second,” Seijuurou’s smile softened into a something a little more genuine and a little more convincing. “You being happy is what matters to me. Even if it’s not with me, as long as you’re happy, it’s okay.”

“Sei…”

“Anyway, I better go catch my train. I’ll catch you in Tokyo next month, huh?”

“Ah… yeah. I’ll see you then, Sei. Message me.”

“You know I will.”

Seijuurou adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and waved a farewell before he turned and began to walk towards his platform - and not a minute too soon, the tears prickling at the back of his eyes almost instantly welling up and rolling down his cheeks.

(“Makoto told you?”

“Mm. But only because I confessed.”

“You—“

A laugh interrupted and Seijuurou cast a smile over the top of the beer bottle he was drinking from. He glanced down first at the railing of the balcony he was leaning against and then out towards the bay, unable to help being a little jealous of the view Matsuoka had from his apartment.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal him from you,” he reassured Sousuke, his gaze staring out towards the bay. “Somehow I think you’ll make him happier than I could, anyway. He gets this look in his eye when he talks about you.”

“Mikoshiba—“

“Call me Seijuurou. Or Sei. Whichever.”

Sousuke blinked his eyes a few times in surprise before his expression softened and he lifted his own bottle to gently tap it against Seijuurou’s. “Then call me Sousuke.”

“Matsuoka’s gonna ask questions.”

“Rin’ll get over it.”)


End file.
